Monday, July 17, 2006

Bangkok Review

I must say, the Thais really love their king. This can be observed from the way they wear the T-shirt. A bright yellow type with the phrase, "We love our King." And it is not hard to not miss out the gigantic posters of their Kings everywhere. Yes, everywhere, just like TVmobile.

The Thais in Bangkok are definitely same same but different as compared to those in Phuket. Those in Phuket are more friendly, and i must say, Patong Beach is definitely more happening than Patpong. Bangkok is too concrete and in one way or another, it is like Singapore. But nevertheless, it was a great trip with Adolphus and Iain.

[Day 1 - 13/07]

Reached Changi Airport at 7am and checked in to the departure halls.

Had light breakfast and walked around inside the duty free areas.

Boarded the plane with the ease as we were allocated seats number, i prefer Jetstar to Tigerairway coz with the seat numbers, people don't rush to get in. And, Jetstar will be sticking to Terminal 1 for long... and that's good... Budget Terminal is rather boring and inaccessible.

The plane was smooth and we reached Bangkok International Airport in 2hrs time.

The passport control was horrible there, as we took 50 minutes to clear it. And by the time we got to the luggage conveyor, our bags were thrown on the floor.

We grabbed the free maps at the airport and got ourselves a cab. Costs us 300B and we reached our hotel in 30minutes time.

Over at Eastin Bangkok, our hotel, our room wasn't ready so we left our luggages at the hotel and went to walk around and have some food.

Streets in Bangkok are not hard to navigate but i still don't understand the system, "how come some time a single direction lane can become a 2 way lane ?"

We came to Pratunam Centre, and we found a food court there. Meals are rather cheap, one plate of chicken rice costs 30B which is roughly SGD$1.25. And for the food courts in Bangkok, we must buy the coupon card, which stores the value of the money that we had paid for.

Reached back hotel and woo hoo... Relax for a while... then we were all ready for Suan Lam Night market.

Walked to the Skytrain station, which is about 15minutes walk from the hotel. Wanted to get the tourist unlimted pass(280B) which can be used for 3 days. But trust me, DON'T BUY!! Coz, not worth it, won't use that much of credits anyway. We somehow managed to get the local students' pass which costs 160B for 10 trips. In the end, we only used up 5 trips... coz taxi is really better. Cheap and fast.

Suan Lam market is a place with a lot of local handicrafts, clothings, food and stuffs... quite a big market place. There is a detailed map of it, so can navigate with that. Then had dinner at Safari Steak there, the pineaple rice and tom yam soup is shiok ~~~

Went for Thai massage... something embarassing happened during the massage... well.. hmm...

Continued to walk around till late...

[Day 2 - 14/07]

Breakfast at Eastin was okay. Not as horrible as mentioned by donno-who.

Went to the Erawan Shrine to pray before we officially start the shopping trip...

Then, we headed for MBK. Can find bargains and cheap buys here. Had toast with peanut butter and chocolate and 1 steam bread special. It is not like the Yakun we had here, a bit different, but i still prefer Yakun. Walk and shop and walk...

Then headed for Siam Discovery Centre... then Siam Paragon... very high class places... Just like Taka...

Went back Hotel to put our stuffs and managed to swim for a while...

After which, it was Patpong time !!

Quite a happening place with a lot of bars and clubs. You will see men trying to interest you into their clubs to see thai-show... Well, he promised that it will only cost 100B per person but in the end it turns out to be 500B... a TT -- tourist trap... we were shocked, many others were shocked too... ridiculous... nevertheless, i enjoyed the show... i never knew that "V" can do soooo many things... amazing ...

Walked around again... and oops... almost stepped into a gay street. Heng ah...

[Day 3 - 15/07]

After breakfast, headed for Chatuchak.

It is really a huge place with many many many stores... and it sure was hot... hot... hot... Many things to see and buy. And towards the afternoon, makeshift stores appearred from nowhere and the place got real crowded.

Then we went to explore the World Trade centre. Had Swensons icecream.. mine costs 65B !! Cheap !! About SGD$2.75

Then we went over to BigC to try out the MK restuarant which is everywhere. The food was okay but the service was very good...

Went back to wash up and we were prepared to head for the Bed Supperclub. Quite a nice place to chill. There are areas with beds where you can lie down and drink and chat and listen to the music... but this is not for me... i prefer listening to live bands... am i getting "mature" ??

[Day 4 - 16/07]

Last day.

After breakfast, packed up everything and left our stuffs over at the hotel lobby.

Went over to the Platinum Mall which boasts about the wholesale pricing that they have... and true enough... the things were rather cheap... quite a good to walk...

After the last minute shopping, it was then time to leave...

Went back to hotel and get our stuffs and we were ready to get back to Spore...